


Avast, Me Hearty

by Queenie_Mab



Series: PJO ficlets and oneshots [29]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canon Era, Canon Related, Closeted Character, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Pirates, Trust Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-11
Updated: 2015-05-11
Packaged: 2018-03-29 21:28:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3911296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Queenie_Mab/pseuds/Queenie_Mab
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nico and Leo find some common ground and, much as he might want to deny it, Nico suspects Leo Valdez could grow on him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Avast, Me Hearty

**Author's Note:**

  * For [zaccartrat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/zaccartrat/gifts).



> Written as a fun little exchange for [graffiti-and-stars](http://graffiti-and-stars.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr. He asked for Valdangelo fluff and I hope will find this satisfying.
> 
>  
> 
> Takes place at the end of Chapter Two in HoH – a missing scene or alternate canon, if you want to call it that. First three paragraphs are altered to Nico's POV and taken from canon.

"I'll be okay," Hazel called up to Nico and Leo. "Stay put and wait for me."

"Wait for how long?" Nico asked. "What if you don't come back?"

"Don't worry, I will," Hazel promised. Nico watched as she spurred Arion, and they shot across the countryside, heading straight for the growing tornado. 

He turned back after she disappeared, only catching Leo Valdez looking quickly away and adjusting something on his Archimedes sphere. Furrowing his eyebrows, he marched up the quarterdeck and paused behind Leo. He was fed up with people watching him from afar, always looking away when they saw him looking back. Why did he constantly put up with it? Yet, calling Leo out on it, having the nerve to do it, at last with Hazel off the ship, he couldn't help thinking it was a really dick move. He moved back a few paces, and scuffed the sole of his boot against the deck to let Leo know he was there. 

Leo spun in his chair at the sound, his face screwed up. "Dude! Don't sneak up on people like that. You're going to give me heart failure."

Nico blew his bangs out of his eyes. Even when he tried to _not_ startle people, they still freaked out. Finally, he just had to say something. It didn't even matter how Leo took it. He told himself he didn't care. 

"Why are you always so jumpy around me? What is it about me that freaks you out so much?"

Whatever Leo had expected to hear, that wasn't it. His forehead wrinkled, his eyes widened, his lips turned down at the corners, and he scratched the back of his head. "I – I'm not really sure." He paused and looked at Nico, really _looked_ at him. It made Nico's skin prickle, and he wanted to kick himself for starting the conversation now that he'd put himself up for scrutiny. Leo's expression softened, his eyes crinkling with laugh lines, his lips stretching into a grin. "It's kinda funny, now that you bring it up. You're almost as scrawny as me."

Nico scowled. That's _not_ something he wanted to be reminded of. He'd been trying to eat more, but after eight days in that jar – He shook the thoughts out of his head. He didn't need to go there in front of Leo. 

"Hey, man," Leo said, holding up his hands as if to show he wasn't a threat. "I don't mean it as an insult. I just really suck at talking to organic lifeforms."

Nico blinked. That had to be the most idiotic statement he'd ever heard another person utter. "What are you even talking about?"

Leo nodded, smiling wider. "See what I'm saying? That, right there proves my point. You're human, and all," he said, gesturing randomly up and down Nico's body. "If you had, you know, like gears and pistons, a control disk or whatnot, I'd probably fall in love with you."

Nico blanched. It wasn't possible that Leo … No. Leo had no idea about what he was talking about. Nico forced himself to relax, affecting an air of nonchalance. "Whatever." 

Leo shrugged and clicked a few switches on the console, then looked up at the rigging Nico had practically made his home aboard the Argo II. "So, tell me, what's so fascinating about sitting up there …" he jerked his thumb at the mast, and nodded toward the rigging, "… all the time? I swear, anytime anybody's looking for you, that's where you are." 

Nico shrugged and dropped into the second chair before the console. He wasn't sure why he decided upon a straight answer, but if Leo was being honest about not understanding 'organic lifeforms', if that explained why he was always inappropriately blurting things out, then maybe they had more in common than Nico had thought at first. 

"It's kind of stupid," he said. 

Leo perked up at that. "Oh yeah? Lay it on me, baby. I can get down with stupid reasons to do stuff."

Nico's lips tugged into a smile almost without his noticing. "I like stories about pirates. When I'm up there, I dunno … It kind of feels like I'm transported to another place, like a fictional pirate ship. I can just let my mind go and leave all this Gaea stuff – this demigod nightmare existence – in the dust."

Instead of grinning and making a stupid joke, Leo paused, a thoughtful look crossing his face. "You know, that's kinda deep. And I don't really think it's stupid either. To be honest, the Pirate life sounds pretty damn cool in comparison with reality."

They exchanged a sideways look, both grinning. The rest of the crew was below deck, and Hazel would probably be gone at least another hour. So long as Festus kept watch, it wouldn't hurt to have a little fun. 

Leo started the ball rolling. He pulled a rubber patch out of his tool belt, and ripped a piece of duct tape into strips, then slapped it over his left eye and secured it. "Avast, me hearty. Batten down the hatches and pull out your hornpipe."

Nico snorted, then stood up, his sword in hand. He grinned as Leo glanced at it nervously, and then slipped it into the scabbard on his belt. "Keep a sharp eye, matey. Thar be monsters in these waters."

They tossed pirate phrases back and forth for an hour until Leo handed control of the ship to Festus, and Nico and he sat side by side on the starboard bow to wait for Hazel to return. 

"You're not so bad …" Leo was saying while Nico looked out toward the mountain his sister had disappeared into. "You know, for a scrawny dude." 

Nico smirked and said nothing. 

Leo fiddled with a length of wire and a few odds and ends in his lap, then turned to Nico. "Your line is: You're not so bad for a scrawny dude, either, Valdez. Sheesh. Look at me. _I'm_ giving lessons in etiquette?"

Nico cleared his throat. "I didn't want to risk being strung up by the yardarm for telling tales." 

Leo scrunched up his nose and bumped Nico's leg with his knee. The touch sent a weird sort of thrill chasing through Nico's nerves and making his stomach squirm. 

"Avast! Thar she blows!" Leo called and Nico looked out to where he was pointing. 

Hazel sped toward them on Arion's back, and Nico knew he'd be lying to himself if he said that Leo Valdez didn't have at least a few redeeming qualities. Maybe one of these days, Nico would admit the same was true about himself.


End file.
